My new variety of lily plant originated as a seedling, which first flowered in Hood River, Ore. in 1989. The breeding efforts had as their objective the production of Asiatic hybrid lilies with upfacing orange and red flowers borne on short stems and suited to forcing into flower out of season for use as pot plants, heretofore unknown in the lily breeding art.
I achieved the desired objective by pollinating Lilium `Orange Pixie` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,792) with pollen of an unnamed outfacing red-orange seedling. I selected this clone at the time of its first flowering at the Boring, Ore. field of Columbia-Platte Lilies, Inc.; I purchased the only bulb of this clone and immediately removed it from the field. This seedling was a genetically unique third-generation Lilium pumilum hybrid with an exceptionally high bud count, brilliant red-orange flowers, and an early flowering time. The flowers of my new lily are characterized by an upfacing orientation, large size and exceptional substance, and a brilliant orange-red color. The new clone possesses unusually short, stout, strong stems and bears a compact racemose inflorescence with an unusually high bud count. In addition, it possesses to a high degree desirable characteristics of hybrid vigor. The clone is a good grower and propagator, as observed at Hood River and at Sandy, Ore.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me and under my direction at Hood River and at Sandy, Ore. Successive generations produced by natural propagation from bulblets, by bulb scale propagation, and by tissue culturing from bulb scale explants have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of my new variety are fixed and hold true under asexual propagation from generation to generation.